Report: Barry Trotz turns down head coaching offers including role with Winnipeg Jets
For Barry Trotz, family comes first.
According to a report from TSN’s Darren Dreger, Trotz, a 59-year-old coaching veteran of 1,812 NHL games, has declined any head coaching roles for this upcoming season, including one from the Winnipeg Jets.
Sources say Barry Trotz has decided NOT to immediately jump back into coaching. Trotz informed the Winnipeg Jets of his decision today and intends on continuing to focus on family. Trotz acknowledged how difficult the decision was to not accept the head coaching job in Winnipeg.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 24, 2022“I’ve got some things personally that I’ve got to take care of, family-wise that I’ve got to take care of,” Trotz told NHL.com Friday. “I didn’t feel… if I’d said I’ll take the job, I think I would have done any team a little bit of a disservice and myself a disservice because to be a coach in the NHL, it is demanding and it requires your all. It just does, emotionally it just does, mentally it just does. So I couldn’t go down that path.
“It doesn’t mean I’m not going to coach. Just not going to coach right now. I’ve been doing this for 25 straight years and I’ve put a lot of stuff on the back burner and I think it’s time. The one thing I do know, and it’s a mistake that everybody makes, is you think you have time and you don’t. And so this is my time when I can get to a lot of things I’ve put on the back burner. I have to take care of those, for peace of mind for everything so I will be 100 percent in if I get back into it and I’ll be a better coach for it.”
From the time he was fired by the New York Islanders after they failed to miss the playoffs for the first time in his four-year tenure, Trotz has been linked to the Jets. He’s a native of nearby Dauphin, Manitoba, so it would’ve been a homecoming of sorts for the man with deep roots.
Trotz told NHL.com that he was impressed with Winnipeg’s pitch.
“Winnipeg came after me in terms of wanting me to be part of the organization and I was really impressed with their commitment to winning, their commitment with [Kevin Cheveldayoff] as (general) manager. I know [assistant GM Craig Heisinger] and other people there. I’ve got relatives that work for the Jets and friends that work security there, people I went to school with. I know lots about the Jets. They’ve got a tremendous organization and a real family atmosphere. But I could not commit to any team; it wasn’t just Winnipeg, it was every team that I had talked to because I had to know I was 100 percent in.”
First interviewed by the Jets mid-May, Trotz played his hockey with the WHL’s Regina Pats before spending a year captaining the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings in 1982-83. After one year playing at the University of Manitoba, he transitioned into coaching. An assistant coach at the university in 1984-85, he joined the Kings as general manager and head coach, where he spent two years.
In 1987-88, he was the head coach at the University and also spent time as a scout for the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs, as well as a part-time scout for the Washington Capitals. The following year he would transition into a full-time scouting role with the Caps, and his career took off from there.
Trotz has had a long and successful career in the NHL. He ranks third in wins behind only Scotty Bowman and Joel Quenneville while his best season behind the bench came in 2017-18 when he led the 49-26-7 Capitals to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title. Trotz is one of seven people to win the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year more than once.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.